10 Best Looper Pedals of 2023: Compact & Versatile

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by Jose Romo May 8, 2023, 5:31 pm

Looper pedals are awesome, and they can be incredibly powerful creative tools to bring your sound to new heights.

Whether you want a looper pedal for practice, to create layered soundscapes, or for live performances, they’re an excellent addition to any pedalboard.

But choosing the best looper pedal can get complicated if you don't know what you’re looking for, so we’ll be taking a look at the best ones on the market.

Our top pick is the TC Electronic Ditto X2 Looper Pedal for taking the simple design and user-friendly interface of its predecessor and adding some really cool new features.

SPECS

There's no doubt that the original TC Electronic Ditto Looper broke the mold when it came to looper pedals. Rather than going for an overly complex—and potentially more expensive—pedal, the Ditto focused on the core functionality of a looper, thus becoming one of the most popular looper pedals ever made.

TC Electronic Ditto X2 Looper takes everything that made the original Ditto Looper great—the simplicity and the amazing audio quality—and adds some carefully-selected features that make it perfect both for live performances and for guitar players who want to take their creativity to the next level.

The Ditto X2 not only added a dedicated Start/Stop button, but also included some awesome loop effects: Reverse, and Half Speed. These effects can also be combined to add an even more unique texture to your sound.

Another new feature we love is USB connectivity, which lets you save and load loops and even whole backing tracks to and from your computer. This simple looper pedal even includes an extensive backing track library from JamTrackCentral so you can create incredible musical atmospheres.

SPECS

We all know Boss is a force to be reckoned with when it comes to pedals of all kinds, and they really knocked it out of the park with the Boss RC-5 Loop Station, the latest iteration of their iconic Boss looper pedal series.

The RC-5 Loop Station is not only an excellent practice companion, but it can also turn you into a one-person band all on its own. It has a whopping 13 hours worth of memory with a maximum single-track length of 1.5 hours. It also has onboard memory for 99 Phrase Memories to either generate playback material onstage or to archive your practice loops, overdub guitar lines, or song ideas, plus USB import/export.

Not only that, but the RC-5 also comes with 114 built-in drum patterns and seven drum kits to add percussive accompaniment to your multiple loops.

The RC-5's versatile pedal switch controls all looping functions—record, overdub, play, stop, and undo/redo. But for those of us who like a little more control over our looping, you can also connect up to two external footswitches for direct control of many assignable functions, or an expression pedal for continuous adjustments.

One of the most powerful looper pedals out there, for sure!

SPECS

The M303 Clone Looper is MXR's first foray into looper pedals and a superb choice for people who want a relatively compact pedal packed with features that can be as simple or complex as you need it to be. It's this flexibility that makes the M303 one of the best looper pedals money can buy.

With its 6 minutes of high-quality recording and its unlimited overdubbing, the M303 is a blank canvas of limitless possibilities for your sound. It also comes with 3 loop effects for those who like to play around with the speed of their loops. Its double-speed effect plays your loop faster, raises it by an octave, and gives you 3 minutes of recorded time. Half-speed slows down your loop, lowers it by one octave, and gives you 12 minutes of recorded time. Finally, you can reverse your loop entirely for extra dramatic effects.

These features are enough on their own to rank the MXR Clone Looper among the best looper pedals on the market. For those looking to access this looper's more advanced options though, you can connect an expression pedal or a tap switch for extra control over loop speed. Its Play Once mode allows you to pull off smooth live performances and re-trigger your loop over and over again for a DJ-style stutter effect.

SPECS

The Electro-Harmonix 720 Stereo is a compact pedal full of looping potential, amazing onboard features, and potential access to complete control over your loops without taking up too much space on your pedalboard.

The Electro-Harmonix 720 Stereo Looper offers 720 seconds (12 minutes) of impeccable-quality audio for use with stereo effects (or even use with multiple instruments) and unlimited overdubs. The loops are split into 10 individual loops that can be accessed via the Loop knob or an additional 3-button footswitch.

This extra 3-button footswitch can also be used to access the undo/redo functionality and the bank up/down controls, leaving the two onboard footswitches free to act as dedicated start and stop controls.

The 720 Stereo Looper also offers some effects for sonic experimentation, namely reverse and half-time modes, as well as loop fade-out more, which is programmable to apply an automatic fade when playback is stopped.

SPECS

The Pigtronix Infinity Looper pedal series is a set of deceptively simple loopers that are actually packed with features that will become indispensable whether you’re using them for practice, for a performance, or as your personal songwriter's sketchbook. We’re going to focus on the Infinity 3, which is simple to operate, yet tremendously powerful and flexible. Simply put, one of the best looper pedals out there.

With approximately 3 hours of internal recording time on up to 50 loop pairs, the Infinity Looper was designed to inspire compositional depth and engaging performances. Its state-of-the-art platform provides instantaneous recording, playback, dub, undo and redo, on two stereo loop pairs (or split mono loops) that can be played in series or parallel as well as synchronized and cued for automatic playback. Each of the separate footswitches includes its own level control for added creative freedom while you play.

Rather than loops stopping abruptly when the Stop footswitch is pressed, the Infinity 3's Cue Fade option introduces a steady fade-out until the end of the loop cycle.

SPECS

Combining song-based looping and organic, dynamic rhythms in a compact package, the RC-10R brings fresh inspiration to live performances, songwriting sessions, and daily practice. Its Boss stereo looper engine can handle up to 6 hours of recording time, with onboard storage for 99 phrase memories and 50 user rhythms.

The RC-10R covers nearly every genre (rock, pop, Latin, jazz, and electronic, to name a few!) with its 280 onboard rhythm tracks, each one including two unique sections: intro/ending fills, and two transition fills.

This versatile looper pedal can also function as a drum machine, with its sixteen versatile drum kits with high-quality sounds from the BOSS and Roland rhythm libraries.

For musicians looking for even more control, the RC-10R offers a jack for connecting up to two footswitches or a pedal for expression, providing extended control of stop, undo/redo, loop volume, and other functions.

This incredible versatility makes the RC-10R without a doubt one of the best looper pedals on the market.

SPECS

The DigiTech Trio+ is not just a looper pedal: it's one of the most powerful practice, writing, and performance tools you could ask for. It's also a little bit different than all the loop pedals we’ve talked about so far.

The basis of this loop pedal is DigiTech's popular Trio technology that learns the chords and rhythm you’re playing and automatically creates drum and bass accompaniment. But that's not all this compact little box can do! The Trio+ offers 12 music genres to choose from—Blues, R&B, Rock, Alternative Rock, Metal, Pop, Electronic Pop, Hip-Hop, Country, Folk, Latin, and Jazz. Each genre also has 12 song styles for you to choose from, so your creativity is never boxed in.

The Trio+ pedal can learn up to five different song parts (intro, verse, chorus, bridge, and outro) and lets you combine them into a full song. It also has a headphone output with volume control to keep your practice time private.

The songs and sounds you create can be stored along with their loops on an SD card, with a storage of up to 12 songs with loops on the included SD card. To make it even easier to manage your songs and loops, free librarian software is available on the DigiTech website.

SPECS

The Lekato Loop Station is a generic looper made by Chinese manufacturer Lekato. This doesn't mean it's a low-quality pedal though—the Lekato Loop Station is actually the best looper pedal you can get at such an affordable price.

This pedal features 9 slots to store your favorite loops and backing tracks, with a single loop recording up to 10 minutes long, and a total recording time of 40 minutes. At a 48kHz/24bit sampling rate, the Lekato Loop Station offers clear looping with unlimited overdubbing and high-quality audio.

It's also incredibly easy to use. You can Record, Undo/Redo, Stop, and Erase your loops via different foot commands on its single footswitch. Its single knob allows you to set loop playback volume.

Lekato knows that sometimes pedalboard space is at a premium, so their Loop Station comes with a built-in high-sensitivity tuner.

SPECS

The Aeros by Singular Sound is one of the most innovative looper pedals. Its colorful touchscreen and integrated scroll wheel that lets you mix individual tracks with your feet make the Aeros feel like a professional DAW.

Ideal for creating complex and creatively-rich soundscapes, the Aeros gives you the ability to create 36 unique loops per song, with six tracks and six song sections. Its other features, such as simultaneous parallel and sequential looping, unlimited overdubs, and spectacular storage of 3 hours of mono and 1.5 hours of stereo recording time, the Aeros provides you with limitless possibilities for sonic experimentation. This storage can be expanded to up to 48 hours with a separate SD card.

Beautifully streamlined, this looper comes with four built-in footswitches with Singular Sound's Comfort+ switch tops, which makes them super comfortable for stomping even in your bare feet.

With multiple inputs and outputs, the Aeros loop pedal is designed to complement your unique style and can be used with any instrument, for vocals, or to connect with other pedals.

SPECS

The Ditto+ is one of the smallest loopers on this list, and yet it packs a punch that you would expect out of a much larger pedal. As the successor of the Ditto Looper, the Ditto+ quickly rose through the ranks of the best phaser pedals on the market.

With 60 minutes of recording space, unlimited overdubs, and the groundbreaking Extended Loop Mode that lets you put longer overdubs on top of shorter loops by stacking the short ones together side by side, this straightforward looper gives you total creative freedom.

Even though the Ditto+ can be considered a basic looper pedal, it has the ability to store and recall up to 99 loop sessions and offers easy-track importing/exporting via USB. Its high-resolution color display gives you real-time information on your guitar loops, as well as allows you access to your loop session library, enabling you to cycle through your tracks via two selection buttons.

Regardless of what you want out of your looper, you should always consider its looping capabilities. Can you record and save your audio for later use? How much audio the pedal can store? What's the loop time? How many memory slots does it have?

These are the most important questions you should be asking yourself before buying a loop pedal.

Most modern pedal manufacturers are extremely careful about the sound quality of their products, so you’re not very likely to find crappy looper pedals if you know which brands to look at.

All the brands we’ve covered in this article are guaranteed to offer high-quality sound, courtesy of their pure tone and bypass capabilities.

Always remember that more expensive doesn't automatically mean better. How much you should spend on a looper pedal will, of course, depend on your budget, but also on what you want your pedal to do.

We’ve covered some affordable pedals that are very simple and user-friendly. There are other, more gimmicky pedals that can cost a little extra, without leaving you completely broke.

If you find that you need—and want—all the bells and whistles that only the best of the best looper pedals have to offer, and you have the funds there's no reason you shouldn't go for it!

As with any pedal, our recommendation is to just have fun with it and try experimenting with placing your new looper pedal on different spots in your chain.

Putting it at the end of your chain will ensure that all the effects you’re playing get looped. If there's a particular effect you don't want looped though, then just stick your looper pedal before that.

As you have seen on this list, the recording time on looper pedals can vary a lot. Some of them come with a looping time that is not expandable, yet others have the added benefit of an SD card slot for extra storage.

For most musicians, anything around 2 minutes of recording time per loop will be more than enough.

Make sure you’re also getting unlimited overdubs so you can make the most out of your loops.

Looper pedals are really cool and fun additions to any pedalboard. Whether you’re using them for your private practice sessions, songwriting with friends, or full-on live performances, there is a looper pedal out there with your name on it.

We hope this guide has given you a clearer idea of which of these excellent choices is the best looper pedal for you!

Photo Courtesy Sweetwater

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